Friendly Interference
by cleotheo
Summary: When Draco refuses to ask Hermione out his best friend, Blaise Zabini steps in and vows to bring the pair together. Will Blaise be successful in getting the couple together or will he ruin any chance they have of happiness with his interference? Short five part story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – This story is a short five part one, which I will hopefully get published this week. This is set in seventh year, where Voldemort didn't return and there was no war. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Are you going to do it? Are you going to ask her?"

Head Boy, Draco Malfoy, snapped his head up at his friend's question. Draco and Blaise Zabini were currently sitting in the Heads dorms discussing the upcoming winter ball. Every year a winter ball was organised for the seventh years over the Christmas holidays, the only way you could attend if you weren't a seventh year was as a date of someone in their last year. No-one in seventh year ever considered missing the ball as it was a Hogwarts tradition and anyone younger who was asked to the ball also had no problems with staying at school over the holidays. The winter balls were known to be a great night and no-one wanted to miss out.

"No." Draco's response was short and sharp as he dropped his head back to the book in front of him.

"Why not?" Blaise questioned. "A blind man can see how much you want her."

"What gave you the idea I want Granger?" Draco demanded, his grey eyes flashing dangerously as he glared at his friends. "Is it the fact we only ever talk about head duties, the fact we ignore each other as much as possible or is it the fact she hates my guts that gave it away."

"I was thinking more about the lingering looks you shoot at each other when you think no-one's looking." Blaise said with a smirk. "It's clear you like each other so why won't you ask her to the ball?"

"She'll say no." Draco said quietly, dropping his head to look at the table. "And who can blame her after the way I've behaved these last six years."

"Come on, Draco, you haven't insulted Granger in years. You stopped believing in all that blood purity crap years ago." Blaise argued, trying to convince his friend he wasn't as bad as he thought he was. "You may still fight with Potter and Weasley but anyone with a brain cell would argue with the witless wonders."

"I'm not doing it Blaise. So stop going on about it." Draco said, his tone sounding distinctly more threatening.

"Fine, if you won't ask her then I will." Blaise smirked as Draco narrowed his eyes at him.

"I don't need my friends getting me dates."

"I wasn't talking about asking her for you." Blaise laughed. "I meant I was going to ask her to be my date."

"You don't even like her that way." Draco spluttered.

"I might." Blaise shrugged. "I've never really thought about it as it was clear you wanted her but if you're too chicken to ask her out that means she's fair game. And let's be honest, these days Granger is smoking hot."

Draco ground his teeth as he bit back a response that would result in him falling out with his best friend. "Do what you want, Zabini." He finally muttered.

Blaise smirked at Draco, his friend only ever used his surname when he was annoyed or angry. "Well I'm off to bag myself a date for the ball, see you at dinner."

Still smirking Blaise left the head dorms as he set off in search of the Head Girl, the feisty Gryffindor lioness Hermione Granger. To be honest Blaise was half expecting Draco to follow him and stop him, but by the time he had reached the library there was no sign of his friend. Deciding to give Draco a few more minutes to come to his senses Blaise leant against the wall and settled back to wait for a while.

Blaise had realised that Draco fancied Hermione sometime the previous year but since they had been made Head students together and shared living accommodation the attraction was so much more obvious. It hadn't taken long for Blaise to realise that Hermione was just as interested in Draco as he was in her, but it appeared that they were both as stubborn as each other and neither of them dared to admit their feelings to the other one. Blaise had been hoping that by threatening to ask Hermione to the ball it would provoke some sort of reaction from Draco, prompting him to pluck up the courage and ask her himself.

Blaise waited for ten minutes but when Draco didn't show he pushed himself off the wall and headed into the library. Now he had told Draco what he was going to do he knew he would have to go through with it, Blaise only hoped that if Hermione said yes that seeing them together would finally push Draco to take the plunge and admit he had fallen for the Gryffindor.

* * *

Hermione Granger sat at her regular table in the library, trying desperately to ignore the chattering of her two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Harry and Ron had inexplicably decided to accompany Hermione to the library before dinner. The boys claimed that since returning to school they had barely seen Hermione as she was always busy with Head Girl duties or studying. Hermione had to agree with the boys reasoning, now that she wasn't sleeping in Gryffindor Tower she saw precious little of her friends.

Hermione lifted her head from her Transfiguration book, ready to tell Harry and Ron to be quiet. Before she had a chance to speak however a figure approached the table the three Gryffindors were using.

"What do you want Zabini?" Harry asked, glaring at the Slytherin. Rivalries between Gryffindor and Slytherin were fierce and even though Blaise Zabini was one of the nicer students in the opposing house Harry still didn't want to appear friendly.

"I'm here to speak to Hermione." Turning to the stunned Head Girl, Blaise offered Hermione one of his killer smiles. Blaise was very good with the ladies and often he could tempt girls into his bed merely by smiling at them.

"What can I do for you Blaise?" Hermione asked, blushing slightly at the attention the Slytherin was paying her.

"I want to ask you to accompany me to the winter ball." Blaise said.

Hermione's eyes widened as she tried to think of an appropriate response. It wasn't that she didn't think Blaise was attractive or even that she didn't think she wouldn't have fun with him, she had just been hoping someone else would ask her to the ball. For as long as she could remember Hermione had had a crush on Blaise's best friend, Draco Malfoy. Sharing Head duties and living quarters had brought them into closer proximity this year and Hermione had been convinced the attraction was mutual, leading her to hope that the frosty blond would ask her to the ball.

"You don't have to answer right away." Blaise smiled at Hermione, hoping her hesitance was because he was the wrong Slytherin asking her out. "Think about it and let me know later."

With a wave and another killer smile Blaise departed the library, leaving a shocked Hermione and an outraged Harry and Ron. Hermione was still staring into space when Harry and Ron started complaining about the nerve of Blaise asking her out.

"What's so wrong with Blaise asking me out?" Hermione snapped to attention as she heard her friends criticising Blaise. "Is it really that unbelievable that someone would want to go out with me?"

"Of course it's not." Harry tutted at Hermione's question. "We're just saying that as a Slytherin Zabini should know better than to ask you out, you're off limits to the likes of him."

"What do you mean I'm off limits?"

"Well you're a Gryffindor and he's a Slytherin, it's just not right." Ron shrugged. "Everyone knows you date someone from your own house."

"How ridiculous." Hermione scoffed. "Neville's going out with Luna and you don't complain about that. Ginny dated numerous boys from other houses before getting together with Harry and Harry himself briefly dated Cho."

"Yes, but none of them were Slytherins." Ron argued.

"What difference does that make?" Hermione questioned. "You better not start on about how all Slytherins are evil again, you know how much I dislike discrimination like that."

Ron sighed and shook his head, not knowing what to say without getting Hermione angry. Right from first year Hermione had refused to believe all Slytherins were trouble, no matter how many people tried to tell her otherwise. Eventually Ron had stopped trying to get her to see sense, deciding that because she grew up in the muggle world she couldn't understand the past the same way he could.

"Look this really doesn't matter." Harry said, stepping in before his friends started arguing. Over the years he had refereed plenty of arguments between Hermione and Ron and he wasn't in the mood to do so today. "It's not as if Hermione's going to accept the offer anyway."

"What makes you think I'm going to say no?" Hermione asked.

"Because you are." Ron stated, speaking as though he was reciting a fact. "You can't go to the ball with a Slytherin."

"You're trying to dictate who I can date." Hermione glared at Ron, trying to convince herself she wasn't hearing what she thought she was.

"No, we're just saying you can't date a Slytherin." Ron said, failing to notice the glint of determination in Hermione's eye.

"Watch me." Hermione hissed, standing up and grabbing her books. "It is not up to you two who I date and if I want to go to the ball with Blaise, there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Turning on her heel Hermione left the library and headed back to the Heads dorm. Storming through the common room and walking straight into her bedroom Hermione failed to notice the brooding Head Boy watching her entrance. Simmering with anger Hermione stayed in her room for another twenty minutes and when she emerged the common room was empty. Realising dinner had started five minutes ago Hermione quickly made her way to the Great Hall.

When she entered the Great Hall, Hermione immediately looked for her friends. Once she spotted Harry and Ron she made sure they were watching her before she approached the Slytherin table. By the time Hermione reached Blaise and the other Slytherin seventh years the whole of the Great Hall had fallen silent and were watching Hermione with interest.

"Is your offer still open?" Hermione asked, speaking clearly so her friends and anyone else who was nosey enough to be eavesdropping would hear.

Blaise snuck a look at Draco, who was sitting beside him. Blaise could feel the jealously radiating from the blond but when it became clear he wasn't going to speak up and protest Blaise shot Hermione a wide grin.

"Of course it's still open."

"Then I want to accept." Hermione smiled back at Blaise. "I would love to go to the ball with you."

"It's a date." Blaise grinned at Hermione.

As Hermione made her way towards the Gryffindor table the gossip started, nearly everyone had an opinion on the monumental occurrence they had just witnessed. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin together was unheard of and no-one honestly thought they would ever see it happen. The fact that one of the parties involved was Hermione Granger, best friend of the two boys who hated Slytherins more than most, was even more shocking. In fact that only way the whole thing would have been more shocking was if it was the Slytherin Prince himself, Draco Malfoy, that was involved in the coupling. Instead the gossips had to make do with Hermione dating Draco's best friend, the flirty and attractive Blaise Zabini.


	2. Chapter 2

Reluctantly Draco checked his appearance one final time before leaving his bedroom. It was the night of the Winter Ball and Draco was not looking forward to the event. He had at least managed to wrangle out of having to worry about a date by persuading his friends to just attend the Ball as a group.

Halfway down the stairs that headed into the common room, Draco froze. Standing in the middle of the room in an ice blue gown was the Head Girl. Looking at Hermione all dressed up ready for a date with his best friend made Draco wish he had plucked up the courage to ask her out himself. Instead he was lurking in the shadows as he watched her waiting for Blaise to show up. Draco was still watching Hermione when a knock sounded on the door and she moved to answer it. From his position on the stairs Draco watched as Blaise swept into the common room, full of compliments for Hermione. Draco watched silently as Blaise flattered Hermione a bit more before they made their exit.

Draco waited another a few minutes before he descended the stairs into the common room himself. He then made his way down to the Slytherin common room where he was meeting his friends. When he arrived the girls weren't quite ready so he settled down on the sofa next to Theo Nott.

"So are you going to tell me what the real reason for attending tonight as a group is?" Theo asked.

"I've already told you, I thought it would be fun." Draco shrugged. "Besides, this way Crabbe and Goyle don't feel like losers with no dates."

"Since when has that bothered those two?" Theo scoffed. "You know as well as I do that as long as they've got food they're happy."

Draco was at a loss as to what to say, he knew Theo was right and he had no more arguments to support his idea. The real reason for his idea was so that he didn't have to think about asking someone he wasn't interested in, he couldn't be bothered with dealing with the hassle of asking someone out he wasn't interested in carrying on seeing. Luckily for Draco the girls arrived in the common room before Theo had more opportunity to grill him on what was really happening. Draco and Theo both complemented the small group of girls before grabbing Crabbe and Goyle so the group could head towards The Great Hall.

Once in The Great Hall the Slytherins all went their separate ways and Draco found himself alone. Wandering over to the refreshment table Draco grabbed a glass of punch as his eyes scanned over the rest of his classmates. Almost immediately his eyes fell on Hermione, she was laughing and smiling at something Blaise was saying. Feeling a stab of jealously at watching his best friend flirt with the girl he liked Draco turned away and walked over to the buffet where Crabbe and Goyle were grabbing their first plate of food for the night.

* * *

Hermione smiled at Blaise and laughed politely at the joke he had just told. Blaise was a really funny guy and he was genuinely a good person. Under normal circumstances Hermione would consider herself lucky to have secured a date with such a great guy, but all she could think about was the Slytherin she wished she was with. All night Hermione was torn between having fun with Blaise and feeling guilty for wishing she was with Draco.

Hermione's friends had made it clear they disliked her dating a Slytherin so they had steered clear of the couple all night. Blaise had briefly stopped to talk with a few Slytherins but he seemed to prefer it when it was just him and Hermione. With Blaise's attention pretty much focused on her all night, Hermione was beginning to feel guilty that she was leading him on. She did like him but she had absolutely no romantic feelings for him what so ever.

For his part Blaise had noticed Hermione's distractedness all night and several times he had caught her looking longingly in Draco's direction. Draco had also spent the majority of his night looking longingly at Hermione, but much to Blaise's frustration they never saw each other looking. Blaise knew that Draco wouldn't approach Hermione while she was on a date with him but he was hoping that if he pushed hard enough he would get Draco to crack and tell Hermione how he felt the following day.

With the plan to push Draco over the edge and act on his feelings decided upon, Blaise craftily manoeuvred Hermione under some enchanted mistletoe. After making sure Draco's eyes were firmly on him and Hermione, Blaise announced their predicament to his oblivious date.

At Blaise's announcement about the mistletoe, Hermione looked up and was dismayed to see it was true. All night she had been avoiding it as she didn't want to encourage Blaise any further but somehow she had stopped paying attention and they were stuck underneath a sprig. Because it was enchanted, any couple caught under it was obliged to kiss if they wanted to move away.

"Looks like I'm getting a Christmas kiss." Blaise grinned at Hermione.

"It looks like it." Hermione chuckled at Blaise's enthusiasm. She didn't want to lead him on but his cheeriness was infectious.

Blaise casually checked Draco was still watching them before pulling Hermione into his arms and giving her a kiss. Hermione briefly returned the kiss but all too soon she was pulling away and ending it. Steering Hermione away from the mistletoe, Blaise smirked as he saw Draco storming out of The Great Hall. No doubt his friend would spend the rest of the night brooding, but hopefully it would bring him to his senses and make him act on his feelings for Hermione.

"Blaise, can we talk?" Hermione asked, dragging the Slytherin out of his thoughts.

"Sure, let's get out of here and go somewhere quiet." Blaise said, taking hold of Hermione's hand and leading her out of The Great Hall.

Once they had emerged from The Great Hall they began searching for a classroom that wasn't occupied. A lot of the rooms had frolicking students inside and as Head Girl Hermione knew she ought to scold them but since it was Christmas she decided to turn a blind eye. Eventually Blaise found an empty classroom and pulled Hermione inside.

"What do you want to talk about?" Blaise asked. He knew for a lot of girls asking to talk would be code for making use of a classroom but he didn't for one minute think Hermione was the type to shag in a classroom.

"First of all I want to say that tonight had been great, I've really had fun." Hermione said, trying to find the words to let Blaise down gently.

"But you're not interested in me romantically." Blaise predicted, saving Hermione the trouble of having to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry, Blaise." Hermione said. "I hope we can be friends but I think that's all we can be."

"Honestly, that's all I want to be." Blaise replied. "I think you're a lovely girl, but I'm not interested in dating a girl who's hung up on my best friend."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not blind, Hermione." Blaise chuckled. "I've seen the way you look at Draco and I've seen the way he looks at you."

"He doesn't look at me in any way." Hermione sighed sadly. "I'm invisible to him."

"You're anything but invisible to him." Blaise said. "You're all he sees, he's totally crazy about you."

"I don't think so Blaise." Hermione shook her head. "Draco barely acknowledges my presence and when he does we always argue."

"What can I say, Draco's an idiot. He's got this foolish idea in his head that you hate him for the way he used to treat you in our early school years."

"That's ridiculous." Hermione snorted. "He's never judged anyone by their blood for years. Everyone knows he stopped believing in all that pureblood nonsense years ago."

"That's what I said, but Draco's stubborn, he doesn't think he deserves you." Blaise explained.

"You've talked about me with him?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I was trying to get him to ask you to the dance tonight." Blaise revealed. "I know he wanted to ask you, he just didn't have the balls to do so."

"Or maybe he just didn't want to ask me in the first place." Hermione suggested.

"He did. He was so jealous tonight, you should have seen the way he kept staring at you. Well before he stormed off, that is."

"Why did he storm off?"

"I kissed you." Blaise smirked. "That was more than he could bare to witness. You never know hopefully it'll prompt him to admit his feelings for you."

"That's what tonight's been about hasn't it?" Hermione questioned, studying Blaise carefully. "You've been trying to push Draco and me together."

"Please don't be mad." Blaise begged, smiling sheepishly at Hermione. "I just think you and Draco would be a good match."

"I'm not mad." Hermione smiled at the Slytherin. "What you're doing is really sweet, I just don't think it's working."

"It'll work, and if it doesn't I'm not going to stop trying. In fact I can help you get Draco if you want."

"How?" Hermione asked warily.

Blaise grinned as he grabbed onto her hand and escorted her back to the party, where he proceeded to tell her exactly how he was going to help her land the Slytherin of her dreams.

* * *

Draco was sitting in the dark common room when he heard the door open. He'd been brooding over his lost chance with Hermione and kicking himself for not acting on his feelings for her. Now she was with Blaise and from the looks of things downstairs she was quite content with his flirty best friend.

Draco had deliberately remained in the common room when he left the winter ball a few hours earlier. He was curious to see if Blaise would return with Hermione and if he did how friendly they were with each other. Making sure he couldn't be seen in the dark corner he was lurking in, Draco watched as Hermione and Blaise entered the common room.

"Thank you for walking me back." Hermione said. "I had a wonderful night."

"So did I." Blaise replied with a smile. "Are we still on for next week?"

"I'm looking forward to it." Hermione replied.

Draco clenched his fist when he heard Hermione and Blaise set up another date and when Blaise said goodnight and gave Hermione a quick kiss on the cheek he had to look away. When he looked back towards the couple Blaise was just leaving and once he had gone Hermione walked across the room and headed up to her bedroom.

Draco waited until he was sure Hermione would be asleep before hauling himself out of his chair and heading to his own bedroom. Crawling into bed he once again cursed his own cowardice, if he'd had the balls to ask Hermione out it would be him arranging dates with the brunette witch. Instead he had lost the witch of his dreams to his best friend, and he only had himself to blame.


	3. Chapter 3

In the week following the winter ball Draco kept out of Hermione's way, which actually ended up being easier than he had originally anticipated. Draco split his time between brooding in his bedroom and hanging out in the dungeons. Throughout the week Draco heard Hermione coming and going from the head dorms, but he managed to avoid seeing her. When he was down in the dungeons he also noticed Blaise was rarely present but he refused to dwell on why his friend was nowhere to be seen.

A couple of days before New Year Draco was dragged down to Hogsmeade with his friends. His friends had decided to throw a New Year's Eve Party since they were all at school and somehow Draco had been dragged into the preparations. Draco reluctantly trailed round the shops with his friends, before they headed into The Three Broomsticks for lunch. It wasn't until they were settled in the pub that Blaise's absence was commented upon. When Pansy and Daphne started gossiping about his burgeoning romance with Hermione, Draco made a quick exit to the bathroom.

Draco stayed in the bathroom for nearly ten minutes, hoping that when he returned the subject of Hermione and Blaise would have been dropped. Unfortunately when he returned to the table Blaise had arrived, and he had Hermione with him.

"Hey, you don't mind if Hermione and I join you for lunch do you?" Blaise asked his friend.

"Why would I mind?" Draco shrugged, sitting back down in his seat.

"Great, I'll go and order us something to eat. Sit down Hermione." Blaise said, steering the brunette witch into the empty chair beside Draco.

Draco considered protesting to Hermione sitting next to him, but decided against it. Blaise was his friend and he didn't want to upset him, not to mention the fact that he actually liked Hermione and if she wasn't with Blaise he would have loved to have her sitting so close.

Blaise returned to the table a few minutes later and Draco then endured the worst meal of his life. Every time Blaise and Hermione interacted he wanted to tear them away from each other, and it didn't help that both Pansy and Daphne kept commenting on what a cute couple they made. If this was the way things were going to be from now on Draco feared the rest of the year was going to be hell for him. Watching Blaise and Hermione together was torture and he found himself breathing a sigh of relief when Hermione announced she was leaving.

"I'm off to meet Harry and Ron." Hermione announced as she stood up and put her coat and scarf back on. "I've had a lovely time, thanks."

"It was nice to meet you properly." Pansy smiled at the witch.

"Remember about the party tomorrow night, it would be lovely to see you there." Daphne added.

"I'll think about it. Bye." Hermione leant down and gave Blaise a peck on the cheek before turning and leaving the pub.

"I like her." Pansy announced once she was sure Hermione had left. "For a Gryffindor she's not too bad."

"Yeah, you've struck lucky there mate." Theo agreed. "Granger is a good catch."

"Well I have to admit it's all down to Draco. If he wasn't Head Boy and lived with Hermione then I might not have noticed how lovely she is." Blaise replied with a grin.

"Isn't that nice, Draco the matchmaker." Theo laughed.

"I'm going for another drink." Draco announced, not wanting to hear more about how he had brought Hermione and Blaise together. "Does anyone else want one?"

After taking a drinks order from his friends Draco stalked away to the bar, not realising that as soon as he had left the table the conversation changed.

"I'm not sure this is going to work." Theo said to Blaise. "Draco isn't going to act on his feelings for Hermione as long as he thinks she's with you."

"Yeah, he's just going to mope and brood." Pansy said. "I hate to say this Blaise, but your plan sucks."

"I do have a secondary part of the plan." Blaise admitted.

After the winter ball he had confided in his friends about Draco and Hermione's problem and they all agreed to help him get the couple together. They had initially hoped that just thinking Blaise and Hermione were together would be enough to push Draco into admitting his feelings for Hermione, but it was now becoming clear that wasn't going to happen.

"What's your second solution?" Daphne asked. "Since the whole making Draco jealous has been a massive flop."

"Firstly, it hasn't been a flop. Draco is massively jealous, he's just too loyal to me to do anything about his attraction to Hermione." Blaise argued. "And as for the second part of the plan, I'm going to let Draco see me with another girl."

"You're going to make him think you're cheating on someone you're not even dating." Pansy remarked, puzzled by her friends logic.

"Exactly." Blaise nodded. "We all know I have a reputation as a player so it won't be a complete shock to find me locking lips with another girl."

"How is that going to help Draco and Hermione?" Daphne questioned.

"Because Draco will tell Hermione I'm cheating on her. Hermione knows all about this plan so all she has to do is get Draco to admit he likes her. The next thing you know they're together and tomorrow night they'll be attending the party as a couple." Blaise announced his grand plan with a large grin.

"What if Draco doesn't tell Hermione?" Theo asked. "What if he confronts you? You could end up with a black eye or something if he loses his temper."

Blaise suddenly looked worried as he thought about his plan going wrong. To be honest he'd never considered that Draco would confront him, his first thought was that he would go running to Hermione and warn her off him.

"I'll have to risk it." Blaise shrugged eventually. "The plans all in place, I'll just have to hope Draco reacts the way I hope he will."

"We'll have the ice ready for when you arrive back in dungeons." Theo chuckled, convinced that Blaise's plan would result in him being punched by their blond friend.

"If it gets Draco to admit how he really feels then it'll be worth it." Blaise responded. He didn't particularly want to end up on the end of Draco's fist but he would if it meant his friend would get the girl he wanted.

"Ssh, he's coming back." Daphne quickly stopped the conversation when she spotted Draco heading back to the table.

"Have I missed anything interesting?" Draco asked as he placed the tray of drinks on the table.

"Nah, this lot were just telling me how lucky I am to have Hermione." Blaise said.

Draco grimaced but didn't say anything as he slipped back into his seat. Making sure the conversation didn't continue to be about Blaise and Hermione, Draco quickly changed the subject to Quidditch. Blaise and Theo eagerly latched onto talk about their upcoming games, while Daphne and Pansy contended themselves with whispering to each other and gossiping.

Draco was relieved when Hermione's name wasn't mentioned again while they were in Hogsmeade. The first mention of Hermione was when they got back to the castle and Blaise announced he had somewhere to be, causing Theo to tease him that it clearly involved the Gryffindor witch. Blaise refused to comment as he slipped off, a smirk playing around his lips.

Draco accompanied his friends back to the dungeons, where he stayed with them for another couple of hours. When he did leave to head back to the head dorms he walked quite slowly along the corridors. He didn't know if Blaise was in the dorms with Hermione but if he was he didn't much fancy sticking around to witness them being all loved up.

Draco was nearly at the head dorms when he heard moaning coming from a nearby alcove. Draco immediately knew what sort of moans he could hear and since the moans indicated someone was breaking school rules he prepared to confront the amorous couple. Normally Draco just moved the frisky couples along with a warning to be more careful in future but given his mood he figured he could take his frustration out on the couple, if he was lucky he could even dock a few house points from the other houses.

"What do you think you're doing?" Draco demanded, storming up to the alcove. "This is against school rules."

Draco's scolding stopped abruptly when the two teenagers pulled apart and he realised one of them was Blaise. The girl was a Hufflepuff in their year, who Blaise had been flirting with for some time. Blaise looked anxiously between Draco and the girl, wondering how his friend was going to react.

"Fifty points from Hufflepuff for lewd behaviour." Draco snapped at the girl. "Now get back to your common room."

The girl shot Blaise a sheepish look before turning and fleeing. Blaise watched her go before turning to face Draco. The blond looked furious and Blaise had to work hard not to smirk at the sight, although he was now worrying that Theo might be right and he was in for a good punch.

"I can explain." Blaise started, holding his hands up in defeat.

"You arsehole." Draco spat.

Before Blaise had a chance to respond Draco had raised his hand and thumped him. Cursing Blaise held onto his cheek as blood started pouring from his lip. Draco was a lot stronger than he gave him credit for and the punch had really stung.

"I'm also taking fifty points off you for lewd behaviour." Draco snarled. "I should also take some for cheating but sadly there's no school rule about shagging around behind your girlfriends back. Now get back to the dungeons."

"I'm sorry." Blaise muttered, hoping Theo was true to his word and would in fact have some ice waiting for him.

"It's not me you need to be apologising to." Draco retorted. "Tomorrow you tell Hermione about this or I will."

Blaise inwardly groaned at Draco's ultimatum. His plan had been that the blond would rush off to tell Hermione what he had just witnessed, instead he clearly wasn't planning on mentioning it to her just yet. All Blaise could do now was hope that Hermione would be around in the head dorms and that Draco would crack and tell her everything.

Draco stood watching Blaise as he apologised again and went scurrying off towards the dungeons. The second Blaise was out of sight Draco swore and clutched his hand. The knuckles were starting to bruise from where he had hit Blaise and the hand was throbbing painfully. Hoping there would be some ice in the head dorms, Draco turned and walked the remaining few paces to his rooms.

Once in the common room he headed over to the ice box, where luckily he found plenty of ice. Using magic he created an ice pack and held it over his aching knuckles.

"Oh my god, what happened?"

Draco turned at the sound of Hermione's voice and found the brunette witch standing looking at him, concern etched on her face.

"It's nothing." Draco shrugged. "Just a minor incident."

"It doesn't look like nothing." Hermione noted, walking up to stand in front of Draco. "Here, let me have a look." She said, taking his hand gently in hers.

While Hermione checked out his hand Draco struggled with what to do. He'd meant it when he told Blaise to tell Hermione or he would, but now he was wondering if he shouldn't just tell her now. Maybe it should be Blaise's job to tell her what's he's done but Draco felt bad for not telling Hermione the truth. When Hermione looked up and Draco found himself so close to her, he knew he had to tell her the truth. Blaise may be his best friend but Hermione was special, she deserved to know what had just happened.


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione checked over Draco's hand, wondering what exactly had happened with Blaise. She hadn't been very convinced by Blaise's latest idea and it looked as though something had gone wrong. Blaise had assured her that Draco would just come running to her, he'd never mentioned the possibility of violence.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, repeating her earlier question.

"I punched Blaise." Draco admitted quietly.

Hermione cringed at the thought of the two Slytherins coming to blows. Yes she wanted Draco to admit he liked her, but she hadn't wanted anything to cause problems between the two friends. It would appear that Blaise's plan was in danger of backfiring and would just end up creating misery for all involved.

"Why?" She whispered.

"Maybe we should sit down." Draco suggested.

Hermione nodded and moved over to one of the sofa's in front of the fire. To her surprise Draco sat down next to her, rather than on the sofa opposite. In all the months they had been sharing a common room the blond had never sat on the same sofa as her, not that they had both been in the common room together very often.

"I feel really bad for telling you this, but you deserve to know the truth." Draco started, running his uninjured hand through his hair nervously. "I caught Blaise kissing another girl tonight."

"So you hit him?"

"Yes, but only because I lost my temper. Blaise is a womanizer, I know that, but I didn't think he would treat you in the same way." Draco explained.

"Why not?" Hermione questioned. "As you've just said, Blaise has a reputation. Why would I be any different to any other girl?"

Hermione had deliberately given Draco an opening to mention his feelings for her, but instead he ignored it and asked her why she wasn't mad at Blaise cheating on her. Hermione sighed, knowing that Draco wasn't going to tell her how he felt. If she wanted to know she would have to tell him the truth and hope it didn't wreck everything before anything even begun.

"I'm not mad, because he wasn't cheating." Hermione admitted.

"He was, I saw him." Draco argued. "He had his hand up another girls skirt and they were kissing and groping each other. In my book that's cheating."

"I agree, that would have been cheating if we were together, but Blaise and I are just friends. We're not a couple."

Hermione watched as Draco looked visibly confused by her confession. She could almost see him reliving the past week in his head, wondering what he had misinterpreted.

"I don't understand." He said finally, giving up trying to work out what was really going on.

"Blaise and I were never together." Hermione said. "I told him at the winter ball that I only liked him as a friend, I like someone else in a romantic way."

"Then what was with the pretence?" Draco asked. "I know I haven't gotten this afternoon completely wrong, everyone was under the impression you were a couple."

"When I told him I liked someone else he already knew and he offered me his help in getting who I want." Hermione explained.

"He helped you by the two of you fake dating." Draco exclaimed, sounding completely baffled. "What was the plan, make this guy so jealous that he would finally notice you?"

"Yeah." Hermione winced, knowing the plan had been a stupid idea from the beginning. "I knew it wasn't a great idea but Blaise was so keen to help and before I knew it I was kind of swept along with his plans. He's quite a force to be reckoned with when he gets something into his head."

"Tell me about it." Draco chuckled, remembering all the trouble Blaise had gotten him into over the years when he had a mad idea in his head.

"So Blaise and I aren't together." Hermione concluded. "He wasn't cheating."

"I guess I owe him an apology." Draco sighed.

"Why did you hit him?" Hermione asked. "I know he thought he was cheating, but he's your best friend. Why was defending my honour more important than your friendship with Blaise?"

"I just don't like cheats, even if they do happen to be my best friend." Draco replied with a shrug, once again failing to take advantage of Hermione's opening and admit the truth.

Hermione sighed, wondering if Blaise had gotten the whole thing wrong in the first place. Hermione was giving Draco plenty of opportunities to reveal his true feelings but he wasn't doing it. Maybe he didn't think of her in a romantic light, giving their past maybe he didn't even like her very much.

"So how's this absurd plan of Blaise's going?" Draco asked.

Twice he'd had the opportunity to pour his heart out to Hermione. The first time he couldn't pluck up the courage to do so and the second time he didn't want to look foolish. Hermione had made it clear there was someone else in her life and he wasn't going to reveal his feelings only to have her reject him.

"Shockingly, not very well." Hermione muttered. "In fact I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to give up on him. He's clearly not interested in me."

"Then he's a fool." Draco blurted out without thinking.

Hermione looked at Draco in surprise, spotting the horror on his face as he realised what he'd said. "Why's he a fool?"

"Because you're beautiful." Draco admitted. Now he'd dropped himself in it he might as well go all the way and end up with a broken heart. "You're clever and kind and are the most amazing person I know. Any idiot who can't see that isn't worth your time and hassle."

"I think he may be worth it." Hermione smiled.

"Then good luck." Draco sighed, standing up. "I hope you eventually get him."

"I won't if you're going to walk away from me." Hermione called after Draco as he headed to the stairs.

Draco stopped and turned back to look at Hermione. "What do I have to do with anything?"

Hermione stood up and walked over to Draco. She knew he still hadn't understood what she meant so she decided that maybe showing him was the best way to explain. Stopping in front of the blond she licked her lips as she gathered her courage. Before she lost her nerve she darted forward and pressed her lips against Draco's.

Draco was momentarily taken aback by Hermione's actions, the last thing he expected was for her to kiss him. However, it didn't take long for him come to his senses and kiss her back. Wrapping his arms around Hermione he pulled her closer to him as he took control of the kiss. Hermione moaned softly and wrapped her arms around Draco's neck as his tongue explored her mouth.

After a few minutes the couple reluctantly ended the kiss. Draco kept his arms around Hermione as he looked down at the witch. Hermione was still unsure of how Draco was going to react so she lowered her head, not ready to face him just yet.

"I'm assuming this means it was my attention you were trying to get." Draco commented, hoping he hadn't misread the situation.

Hermione nodded and looked shyly up at Draco. "Blaise reckoned you liked me, but I wasn't sure if I believed him or not."

"So you went along with his crazy scheme?"

"Yes, I'm an idiot." Hermione sighed. "But according to Blaise you needed a push to tell me how you feel. And since you still haven't said anything, I'm beginning to think Blaise was wrong and you don't like me."

"For someone so smart, you're being incredibly dense." Draco remarked. "In case you haven't noticed you're still in my arms and I can distinctly remember kissing you back. I don't know about you but I don't kiss people I don't like."

Hermione's face broke out in a wide smile at Draco's words. "You really like me?"

"Yes, I really like you." Draco admitted. "I should have told you a while ago, but I didn't think you would feel the same."

"Would you have ever told me?" Hermione questioned.

"Not as long as I thought you were with Blaise." Draco replied. "That plan was deeply flawed by the way. I may have been jealous but I never would have tried something when you were dating my best friend."

"That's what I told Blaise, but he reckoned you would get so jealous that you would crack and admit you liked me."

"Malfoy's don't crack under pressure." Draco snorted. "I'm perfectly capable of suffering in silence."

"You were suffering?" Hermione questioned.

"Something terrible." Draco admitted quietly. "It was torture thinking you were with Blaise. I even left the winter ball when I spotted the pair of you under the mistletoe."

"He did that deliberately, you know." Hermione said. "I'd been trying to avoid the mistletoe all night but Blaise managed to sneak me under some, just so he could make you jealous. Apparently he was showing you what you were missing."

"Exactly how much did Blaise tell you about my feelings?" Draco asked.

"He told me that you liked me, but were too afraid to ask me out." Hermione answered. "He also admitted the only reason he asked me to the ball was because he was trying to get you to ask me."

"I wish I had asked you to the ball." Draco sighed.

"So do I." Hermione admitted. "You were the one I wanted to ask me. I only said yes to Blaise because you didn't ask me, plus Harry and Ron were being annoying and judgemental so I wanted to piss them off."

"You're going up in my estimation, Granger. Pissing off Potter and Weasley is an excellent quality to have and one I very much appreciate." Draco chuckled.

Hermione shook her head at Draco, although she couldn't help but smile slightly. She knew getting involved with Draco could cause friction with Harry and Ron, but she wasn't about to let her friends opinions stop her from being happy. She also knew that if something did develop with Draco she would have to speak to him about winding Harry and Ron up, but that was a problem for the future.

"I think it's time I made up for my cowardice regarding the winter ball." Draco announced, bringing Hermione's attention back to him.

"How are you planning on doing that?" Hermione asked. "You can hardly change the past."

"No, but I can ask you out now." Draco replied. "Hermione will you come to the Slytherin New Year party with me?"

"I'd love to." Hermione smiled.

"Excellent." Draco grinned, before bending down and reconnecting his lips with Hermione.

Hermione eagerly responded to the kiss, until they eventually parted, both needing air. Still keeping his arms wrapped around Hermione, Draco walked them back over to the sofa. Settling down onto the sofa the couple talked for a few hours, getting to know each other better before their date the following night.


	5. Chapter 5

The following day Hermione couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked forward to her date that night with Draco. After lunch she had accompanied her friends back to Gryffindor Tower, where they pretty much had the place to themselves considering the majority of students were at home for the holidays.

"Okay Hermione, spill." Ginny said to her friend, finally mentioning the other girl's good mood. "Why are you in such a good mood today?"

"Can't I just be happy?" Hermione asked.

"There's happy and there's borderline mental." Ron commented. "Seriously though, you've been smiling like an idiot all morning. Why?"

"I've got a date tonight." Hermione announced, deciding to deal with her friends straight away rather than hiding anything from them.

"We don't need to know about your love life with Zabini." Ron grimaced.

"Yeah, it's bad enough that you're dating a Slytherin, we don't need details." Harry added.

"How many times have I told you Blaise and I are just friends." Hermione huffed. Since last week's ball she'd been telling her friends that she wasn't dating Blaise, but they just didn't believe her.

"You were with him yesterday in Hogsmeade. That's a date." Ron argued.

"I was with him as a friend, we hung out a bit and had some lunch. That was all." Hermione said. "Besides I spent my afternoon with you two. Was that a date as well?"

"Don't be ridiculous Hermione." Harry tutted. "We're all friends."

"Just like I'm friends with Blaise." Hermione pointed out.

"Okay, so if you're not going out with Blaise, then who's your date with?" Ginny asked, stepping in to direct the conversation back to its original point.

"Draco."

"Malfoy?" Ron exploded. "Why the hell are you going out with him?"

"Because he asked me and I really want to go out with him." Hermione replied.

"But it's Malfoy." Harry said, sounding totally baffled by the idea. "Why would you want to date him?"

"Who wouldn't, the boy is gorgeous." Ginny muttered dreamily.

"Eew, Gin. Don't say disgusting things like that." Ron complained, glaring at his sister. "You're supposed to be on our side and be convincing Hermione she's making a big mistake."

"But she isn't." Ginny shrugged. "Hermione, I'm very happy for you and I hope you have a good time."

"Thanks Ginny, it really means a lot that you're happy for me." Hermione said, beaming at her best female friend before she turned to her two male friends. "And what about you two? Can you be happy for me?"

"He's going to break your heart, how can you expect us to be happy about that?" Harry questioned.

"You don't know that Harry." Hermione shook her head. "We could end up getting pretty serious, you know."

"Until that happens, I'm reserving judgement." Harry declared. "I'm not going to support this until I know he's not going to hurt you."

"I'm with Harry on this." Ron nodded in agreement with his best friend. "He has to prove he's serious about you and isn't just messing you around before I can approve and support you."

"So once you're convinced Draco's serious, you'll accept us?" Hermione asked her friends.

"Yep." Harry nodded. "But until then, we think you're making a big mistake."

"Thanks, I think." Hermione said, unsure of how to react to her friend's reactions. While they hadn't been as hostile as she had anticipated they also hadn't come round like she hoped, it looked like she would just have to wait and see how they reacted once she and Draco had been together a bit longer.

"I think that's the best you're going to get from them." Ginny whispered to Hermione as the boys changed the subject to Quidditch. "I'll work on them and make sure don't cause any trouble."

"Thanks Gin." Hermione smiled at her friend.

"Now while they're busy talking Quidditch, tell me more about this date." Ginny said, eager to hear about her friend's love life.

Hermione grinned and began telling Ginny about the upcoming date and the events leading up to it.

* * *

Draco nervously paced the floor in the common room as he waited for Hermione to emerge from her room. Draco had spent most of his day reading peacefully in the common room while Hermione had spent her day with her friends. A couple of hours ago Hermione had returned to the dorms, where she had immediately taken a long bath before shutting herself in her room to get ready.

Draco himself had taken over an hour to get ready, but now he was anxious to begin the date. Not only was he nervous about how things would go with Hermione, but he also had to deal with Blaise. He knew he had to apologise to his friend for hitting him, but he couldn't help but think that if he hadn't have come up with such a stupid plan in the first place then the punch wouldn't have occurred. Although on the other hand, even though the plan was flawed it had finally gotten him and Hermione together, so maybe he also owed Blaise his thanks.

Draco was so busy thinking about the night ahead that he failed to notice Hermione coming down the stairs. It was only when she cleared her throat that the blond turned to find her standing a few feet away from him. Draco took a few minutes to admire Hermione, before he spoke.

"You look great."

Hermione blushed and smiled shyly. "Thanks."

She was wearing a black and purple dress that ended mid-thigh and a pair of black heels. The dress was lower cut than Hermione normally wore, but it showed off her figure really well and Ginny had assured her she looked good in the outfit. She teamed the dress with a silver star necklace, matching earrings and a charm bracelet that had been a Christmas present from her parents.

"Are you ready to go?" Draco asked.

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

Draco took hold of Hermione's hand and together they walked down to the dungeons. There were a few lone students in the hallways and Hermione knew that by morning she and Draco would be the subject of the gossip in school, which would only grow once the rest of the student population arrived back in a few days' time. Despite the bemused looks they were getting Draco never left hold of Hermione's hand as they travelled through the castle.

As they entered the dungeons Hermione suddenly found herself getting nervous at the thought of spending time with other Slytherins. Draco's friends weren't the problem, but Hermione had no idea how many other Slytherins would be at the party or how they would react to her presence.

"It'll be fine." Draco reassured Hermione as he came to a stop in front of a blank patch of bricks.

"How are you so sure?" Hermione questioned. "Your friends might approve of me, but that doesn't mean everyone else will."

"Apart from a few sixth years and a few other students, the majority of the house is at home for the holidays. It'll actually be a fairly small party." Draco said. "Besides, they wouldn't dare badmouth you when you're my date."

At Draco's last sentence Hermione got a brief glimpse of the boy who was undoubtedly the Slytherin Prince. Hermione knew that Draco was very much top dog amongst the Slytherins and she'd heard rumours that the younger students, and even the older students before he was a seventh year, never went against what he said.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked, giving Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze.

Hermione nodded and held on tighter to Draco's hand as the blond gave the password and the stones parted to reveal a doorway. Draco led the room into the common room, which wasn't anywhere near as cold and dingy as Hermione had expected. The room was far larger than the Gryffindor common room and it was currently decorated with plenty of lights and streamers, and she could see several tables full of food and drink. The room also wasn't very crowded, Draco had been right apart from his friends there was only a handful of other students present.

Draco led Hermione over to where his friends were gathered. The second the group spotted their intertwined hands they started congratulating them and bombarding them with questions about their relationship. Hermione soon found herself separated from Draco as Pansy and Daphne dragged her off to get a drink, the chore merely being a pretext for getting her alone and quizzing her about Draco.

"I owe you an apology." Draco said to Blaise, once the girls had gone.

"We'll leave you two to talk." Theo said, grabbing Crabbe and Goyle by the arms. "Come on boys, let's go and get some food."

Crabbe and Goyle eagerly wandered off with Theo at the mention of food, leaving Blaise and Draco free to talk in private.

"I'm sorry I hit you." Draco said. "I know now you weren't cheating on Hermione."

"You would have to be an idiot to cheat on someone like Hermione." Blaise snorted. "If it wasn't for the fact you're totally in love with her and she's head over heels for you then I would have dated her for real."

"About that, the fake dating thing was really badly thought out. It was a terrible plan." Draco told his friend.

"Really? Because it looked as though it worked to me." Blaise retorted. "You and Hermione are together aren't you?"

"Yes, but only because she told me the truth." Draco argued. "I never would have admitted how I felt about her while I thought she was with you. I never would have betrayed you like that."

"That's what Theo said, but I figured your jealousy would cloud your judgement." Blaise admitted. "Plus, I wasn't sure you even believed we were together. You knew I'd only asked her to the dance to try and push you into doing it."

"Yes, but at the same time you also made it clear you thought she was hot." Draco retorted. "You looked to be really into each other at the winter ball so it was only natural that I would think you would continue seeing each other."

"I would never do that to you, Draco." Blaise said sincerely. "Hermione is lovely and in other circumstances I would definitely have asked her out properly, but not when I knew my best friend liked her."

"I suppose I also owe you a thank you." Draco said. "Your plan may have been flawed, but I suppose it did sort of work."

"There's no sort of about it." Blaise bragged. "The point of the plan was to get you and Hermione together. You're now together so the plan was a success."

Draco laughed and shook his head at his friend. Blaise's plan had been deeply flawed and if Hermione hadn't told him the truth Draco still wouldn't have admitted that he liked her. Luckily everything had worked out so he was content to let Blaise revel in his matchmaking skills.

"And about the punch, I accept your apology." Blaise said. "Theo warned me I might end up on the wrong end of your temper, but in the end it was worth the split lip."

"Well I'm still sorry I snapped and hit you." Draco sighed.

"It's alright, I understand that if it had been anyone other than Hermione involved that you would have controlled yourself better." Blaise said, reassuring the blond he wasn't bearing any grudges.

"Is it safe to come back?" Theo suddenly called from a nearby snack table.

Draco turned round to find all his friends and Hermione watching the pair of them intently. "How long have you lot been standing there?" He asked.

"Not long." Theo replied. "We wanted to give you space, but I wanted to be close in case I needed to step in and break up a fight."

"Please, as if your scrawny frame could compete against me and Draco." Blaise scoffed as the group all converged together again. "You couldn't separate a fight between two first years, let along two strapping seventh years."

"I'm not scrawny." Theo glared at his friend. "I've got hidden muscles."

"Where are they hidden?" Blaise asked with a laugh. "I've seen you practically naked, and you're all skin and bone."

As Theo and Blaise continued to argue, Draco turned his attention to Hermione. He could listen to his friends bicker anytime, but he couldn't repeat his first date with Hermione and he wanted to spend the rest of the night focused on her.

"How are you enjoying our party?" He asked.

"It's good. You Slytherins are a lot more fun than I'd given you credit for." Hermione replied.

"Did Pansy and Daphne behave themselves?" Draco asked, checking on the two girl's behaviour. "If they're badgering you I can tell them to quit it."

"No, they weren't badgering me. We were just having a girly chat." Hermione smiled.

"So you're not regretting coming to the party with me?"

Hermione shook her head and gave Draco a small smile. "No regrets."

Draco smiled back at Hermione as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. After leaning down and giving her a brief kiss, he turned back to his still bickering friends. By this point everyone else had joined in the discussion so Draco and Hermione also joined in the fun, Hermione fitting into the group of Slytherins easily.

Hermione only hoped her friends would make the same effort as Draco's had when she arranged a meeting between her friends and her boyfriend. But that was something she would worry about in the upcoming year. Right now she was content to spend a fun New Year's Eve with her new boyfriend, and maybe it would be the first of many they celebrated as a couple.

**The End.**


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